(Newser)
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Erstwhile Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell blasted reports of a federal investigation into alleged campaign finance fraud as an "establishment trick." We’ve "been warned by multiple high-ranking Democrat insiders that the Delaware Democrat and Republican political establishment is jointly planning to pull out all the stops to ensure I would never again upset the apple cart," said O'Donnell in a statement. The plan is "to crush me with false accusations so that my political reputation would become so toxic no one would ever get behind me. This is simply an establishment trick to stop the anti-establishment Tea Party movement in its tracks."

Anonymous sources told AP this week that an investigation has been launched into charges that O'Donnell used campaign money to pay for personal expenses. She raised $7.3 million for her Senate run, and has been accused of shady spending in the past by former aides and the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics. Campaign manager Matt Moran called the claims “unsubstantiated allegations," but vowed to cooperate with any investigation, reports Roll Call.